1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and in particular, to a semiconductor device having a semiconductor element encapsulated by an encapsulation member.
2. Description of the Background Art
As a semiconductor device for use as an inverter, there is a power module having a plurality of semiconductor elements such as IGBTs (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors), free wheel diodes and the like encapsulated by a mold resin and an insulating sheet. For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-319084 discloses such a power module.
As a technique of suppressing the mounting area of an encapsulated semiconductor device, for example, there is a technique disclosed by Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 08-274219. The disclosed semiconductor device includes an IC chip, a tab on which the IC chip is placed, a lead terminal, a thin metal wire connecting the lead terminal and the IC chip, and a resin mold. The resin mold is provided with a hole, which extends from the lower surface of the resin mold and reaches the lead terminal. A conductive rod-like terminal is inserted to pass through the hole. Electric connection between a structure outside the semiconductor device and the IC chip encapsulated by the resin mold is established via a serial connection portion of the rod-like terminal, the lead terminal and the thin metal wire.
According to the technique of Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 08-274219, each hole is provided so as to reach the lead terminal. The lead terminal is provided on the outer circumferential side of the tab on which the IC chip (semiconductor element) is placed. Accordingly, the holes are also distributed on the outer circumferential side around the region where the semiconductor element and the tab are provided. That is, the distribution range of the holes is wide. This introduces a problem of an increase in the size of a substrate that is connected to the semiconductor device via the holes. Additionally, since the resin mold and the lead terminal must be provided on the outer circumferential side, there has also been a problem of an increase in the size of the semiconductor device.